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I first had the pleasure of hearing Alfie Boe\u2019s voice in concert at the Royal Albert Hall in 2012. An excerpt, perhaps, of the tenor\u2019s exhilarating stint as Jean Valjean in Les Mis\u00e9rables, at the O2 in London two years before? Or maybe highlights from his memorable 2011 performances of La Boh\u00e8me and The Mikado at the English National Opera?<\/p>\n
Actually, no. Boe was standing tall between Queen guitarist Brian May and Iron Maiden singer Bruce Dickinson. It was the finale of a charity show and Boe was bringing the big guns to the hoary 1970s classic rock anthem Smoke On The Water.<\/p>\n
Known to fans as an \u201coperatic\u201d heavy metal singer, Dickinson carolled the first verse with vein-throbbing gusto while the real opera singer spun around and clapped his hands.<\/p>\n
When Boe, clad in dark double-denim, snaked toward the mic to roar out his verses, it was like thunder from the mountain. Alice Cooper appeared speechless. Afterwards, I asked Dickinson how it felt sharing the stage with an actual opera singer?<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a nightmare,\u201d he said, shaking. \u201cIt\u2019s all right heavy metal fans calling me \u2018operatic\u2019, but that\u2019s Alfie Boe! Give me a break.\u201d<\/p>\n
Boe laughs as I relate the story.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh man, those guys, Bruce, Alice, Brian May \u2013 I grew up listening to them scream their lungs out. Standing side by side with them, I was absolutely in awe.\u201d<\/p>\n
It might surprise some opera aficionados, but Boe, 50, had dreamed of being a rock star long before the classical world beckoned.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the Royal College I\u2019d be walking to class with my headphones on listening to Status Quo and Led Zeppelin,\u201d Alfie recalls.<\/p>\n
He certainly looks like a rock star \u2013 a tanned and youthful middle-ager with rascally whiskers and longish hair, Alfie is home in his west London apartment following another sold-out UK tour.<\/p>\n
READ MORE: <\/strong> Michael Ball tickets are selling fast, but you can still get yours now<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cFor me, rock\u2019n\u2019roll always came first. My brother had an extensive collection of Elvis records, my mum was a big Roy Orbison fan and I was into Queen and the Rolling Stones.\u201d<\/p>\n Born in Blackpool in 1973, the youngest of nine to an Irish Catholic father and Norwegian mother, Boe was six-years-old when his future brother-in-law introduced him to Queen.<\/p>\n \u201cHe played me Bohemian Rhapsody and then said, \u2018You can\u2019t be a real Queen fan until you understand what Bohemian Rhapsody is about\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n He chortles. \u201cWell, I\u2019m 50 years old now, and I\u2019m still trying to figure out what Bohemian Rhapsody is all about.\u201d<\/p>\n A richly-talented lyric tenor lauded by everyone from movie director Baz Luhrman to musical theatre impresario Cameron Mackintosh, Boe quickly outgrew the strict confines of the classical world.<\/p>\n He released a series of best-selling albums featuring crossover forays into theatrical showtunes, pop balladry, the Great American songbook, traditional folk and modern country. But never classic rock or, heaven forbid, heavy metal. Until now and the release this weekend of new album, Open Arms \u2013 The Symphonic Songbook.<\/p>\n Boe\u2019s homage to his first musical love includes immaculately produced orchestral versions of such classic rock staples as Bon Jovi\u2019s Living On A Prayer, Metallica\u2019s Nothing Else Matters, Bryan Adams\u2019 Summer Of \u201969, among others.<\/p>\n As a teenager he combined listening to Pink Floyd with exploring his father\u2019s old Richard Tauber records. \u201cWhen The Dark Side Of The Moon and Peter Gabriel-era Genesis came into my world it was like, \u2018Wow, this stuff is epic and symphonic and glorious\u2019. It was like hearing La Boh\u00e8me for the first time.\u201d<\/p>\n But then, \u201cmy singing happened and people started saying, \u2018You have the ability to be a classical singer\u2019 \u201d.<\/p>\n The story of how the 17-year-old Alfie Boe got his lucky break while working as an apprentice car mechanic who entertained workmates by singing opera arias, is well-worn.<\/p>\n A well-to-do customer with music biz connections suggested he audition for the prestigious light opera company, D\u2019Oyly Carte.<\/p>\n \u201cI lost his card and can\u2019t remember his name,\u201d he sighs. \u201cBut I\u2019ve always wanted to thank him because that moment changed my life.\u201d<\/p>\n After D\u2019Oyly Carte he spent four years at the Royal College of Music, followed by admission to the National Opera Studio.<\/p>\n Don’t miss… <\/strong> I studied like crazy, crammed it all in, and developed this operatic voice. I then I ended up onstage at the Royal Opera House in Glyndebourne.\u201d<\/p>\n Since his first platinum-selling album Bring Him Home, in 2010, Boe has had a new album in the UK Top 10 every year (pandemic excepted). Three even went to Number 1 as part of the long-running Ball & Boe Together show. Yet his love of rock has never foundered.<\/p>\n \u201cSingers like Freddie Mercury and Robert Plant have this natural ability to sing without much training, focussing more on storytelling.<\/p>\n \u201cTheir voices crack and they scream, but that\u2019s not a mistake, that\u2019s emotion.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s where a lot of young classical singers come a cropper. Too many young kids I see sing the notes perfectly, but it\u2019s boring.\u201d<\/p>\n Boring? Let the blustering and harrumphing begin. When Boe confessed on Desert Island Discs he didn\u2019t often go to the opera, \u201cbecause I find it boring,\u201d the backlash was immediate.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d just done a run at ENO and the following day in the papers they asked a director I\u2019d worked with about my \u2018boring\u2019 remark, and he said, \u2018Alfie Boe? Oh yes, I\u2019ve heard of him. I knew he wasn\u2019t one of us\u2019.\u201d Classical music snobs have been the scourge of his career, he shrugs.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a shame that purists can\u2019t see beyond a certain genre. My concerts involve operatic arias, Neapolitan folk songs, musical theatre songs and now some rock\u2019n\u2019roll.\u201d<\/p>\n How about the sex and drugs part of the rock lifestyle \u2013 much of that in the classical world?<\/p>\n \u201cThere were certainly some wild parties,\u201d he cheerfully acknowledges. \u201cWhen you have a long opera and you get a rare night off, that\u2019s when the beers flow and the fun starts.\u201d<\/p>\n He admits the showbiz lifestyle was part of the reason behind his \u201cvery amicable\u201d split in 2020 from his American wife Sarah. Although his much-publicized liaison with Liv Knight-Butler, a \u201cvlogger\u201d nearly 20 years his junior can\u2019t have helped much either.<\/p>\n
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